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Azerbaijan’s Aliyev to Skip EU Talks with Armenia, Angry with France

An Azerbaijani serviceman on patrol on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, near Khankendi, Azerbaijan, also known as Stepanakert to Armenians. (AP)
An Azerbaijani serviceman on patrol on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, near Khankendi, Azerbaijan, also known as Stepanakert to Armenians. (AP)
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Azerbaijan’s Aliyev to Skip EU Talks with Armenia, Angry with France

An Azerbaijani serviceman on patrol on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, near Khankendi, Azerbaijan, also known as Stepanakert to Armenians. (AP)
An Azerbaijani serviceman on patrol on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, near Khankendi, Azerbaijan, also known as Stepanakert to Armenians. (AP)

Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, has decided against attending an EU-brokered event in Spain where he could have held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani state media reported on Wednesday.

Aliyev had been considering taking part in a five-way meeting in Granada, Spain, on Thursday with the leaders of France, Germany, Armenia and EU Council President Charles Michel.

The five were due to discuss the future of the Nagorno-Karabakh region after Baku took back full control in a 24-hour military operation launched on Sept. 19, and to review the progress of long-running but troubled peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Azerbaijan's state-run APA news agency, citing unnamed sources, said Aliyev had decided against attending however. There was no immediate official confirmation that Aliyev would not go.

APA said Aliyev had wanted Türkiye to be represented at the meeting, but that France and Germany had objected, and said that Baku felt "an anti-Azerbaijani atmosphere" had developed among the meeting's potential participants.

In particular, APA cited what it said was discontent in Baku around a statement made by Michel and what it regarded as "pro-Armenian statements" by French officials and France's decision, announced on Tuesday, to supply Yerevan with military equipment.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna held talks with Armenia's Pashinyan in Yerevan on Tuesday, the first trip there by a Western government minister since Azerbaijani forces retook Karabakh.

Azerbaijan's foreign ministry issued a statement on Wednesday condemning what it said were unfounded comments by Colonna, who had voiced support for Armenia and its territorial integrity.

APA said that Azerbaijan would not attend any future talks that included France, but remained potentially open to possible three-way meetings with the EU and Armenia.

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Israel Cancels Visas for French Lawmakers

French Ecologist party deputy Francois Ruffin was among lawmakers who had their visas cancelled by Israel. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
French Ecologist party deputy Francois Ruffin was among lawmakers who had their visas cancelled by Israel. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
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Israel Cancels Visas for French Lawmakers

French Ecologist party deputy Francois Ruffin was among lawmakers who had their visas cancelled by Israel. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
French Ecologist party deputy Francois Ruffin was among lawmakers who had their visas cancelled by Israel. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

Israel's government cancelled visas for 27 French left-wing lawmakers and local officials two days before they were to start a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, the group said.
The action came only days after Israel stopped two British members of parliament from the governing Labor party from entering the country, AFP said.
It also came amidst diplomatic tensions after President Emmanuel Macron said France would soon recognize a Palestinian state. Macron has in turn sought to pressure Netanyahu over conditions in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Israel's interior ministry said visas for the 27 had been cancelled under a law that allows authorities to ban people who could act against the state of Israel.

Seventeen members of the group, from France's Ecologist and Communist parties, said they had been victims of "collective punishment" by Israel and called on Macron to intervene.

They said in a statement that they had been invited on a five-day trip by the French consulate in Jerusalem.

They had intended to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of their mission to "strengthen international cooperation and the culture of peace", they added.

"For the first time, two days before our departure, the Israeli authorities cancelled our entry visas that had been approved one month ago," they said.

"We want to understand what led to this sudden decision, which resembles collective punishment," said the group.

'Major rupture'
The delegation included National Assembly deputies Francois Ruffin, Alexis Corbiere and Julie Ozenne from the Ecologist party, Communist deputy Soumya Bourouaha and Communist senator Marianne Margate.

The other members were left-wing town mayors and local lawmakers.

The statement denounced the ban as a "major rupture in diplomatic ties".

"Deliberately preventing elected officials and parliamentarians from travelling cannot be without consequences," the group said, demanding a meeting with Macron and action by the government to ensure Israel let them into the country.

The group said their parties had for decades called for recognition of a Palestinian state, which Macron said last week could come at an international conference in June.

Israeli authorities this month detained British members of parliament Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed at Tel Aviv airport and deported them, citing the same reason. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the action "unacceptable".

In February, Israel stopped two left-wing European parliament deputies, Franco-Palestinian Rima Hassan and Lynn Boylan from Ireland, from entering.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted with fury to France's possible recognition of a Palestinian state. He said establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel would be a "huge reward for terrorism".